Kevin "Blunoz" S.'s Profile

Shari's is A-OK.  No real complaints.  We've been there twice when we had a craving for a big breakfast.  It's a big chain restaurant.  Nicer than a Denny's or an IHOP I think.  Friendly service and decent prices.  Atmosphere similar to any other national chain restaurant.

I grew up in San Diego, so Mexican food is a staple in my diet (if you can call it that).  Moving here to the Kitsap peninsula, I was surprised to find a veritable plethora of Mexican restaurants to choose from.  I've tried almost all of them, and I've sorta narrowed it down to two that I frequent.  The rest of my family has come around to Los Cabos being our "regular" Mexican place.  I like their chips and salsa, and I like that they serve bean dip with some pico de gallo.  They have good mole chicken enchiladas, good carnitas, good..  well...  I haven't had a bad meal here.

Service here is average.  Prompt and polite.  Not usually anything to complain about, but nothing to rave about either.  On our last visit there, they got two of our orders wrong, but the waiter was very apologetic and had them fixed.  

Prices are reasonable for the quantity and quality of food provided.  The portion sizes are decent but not ginormous.  Not like some places you can count on having two meals (one at the restaurant and one for leftovers the next day).  I usually finish my plate of food, but I leave with a full belly (see earlier reference to "diet").

As with most local places, they are under the strong-arm of the Pepsi monopoly all across the peninsula.

My family loves this place.  There are half a dozen or so flavors of soft-serve style frozen yogurt to choose from, then a couple of dozen different toppings to choose from.  You dish it all up yourself and put it on the scale, and you pay by weight.

I normally like to put just a little bit of fro-yo in the bottom of my cup, then put the toppings in the middle, then put more fro-yo on top.  That way I'm not constantly fighting the avalanche of toppings trying to fall off the top of my towering cup of frozen tasty goodness.

It's Cold Stone.  No complaints here.  It's A-OK.

My family and I LOVE Ivar's.  We live on the Kitsap peninsula, but we've gone so far as to get on the ferry, ride over to Seattle, eat dinner at Ivar's, then get on the ferry back to Kitsap again.

This is a very nice restaurant - upscale atmosphere (and prices), and the food is absolutely exquisite.  Service is cordial, polite, and prompt, although somewhat impersonal.  I suppose in a restaurant as big as this and as popular as this, the servers never see or recognize the same family twice, so you don't get the personal connection you might at smaller ma & pa type neighborhood restaurants.  All that being said, we still love Ivar's for the very nice atmosphere, excellent food, and decent service.  

My kids love it, too.  They provide a kids' menu on a paper scuba diver mask, and we usually walk out of the restaurant with both of my boys wearing their paper scuba masks.

Friends of ours have told us the really like the Taco Time in Poulsbo, so when this new Taco Time opened up in Silverdale we decided to give it a try.  It seems odd with so many local ma & pa Mexican restaurants, plus TWO national fast-food chains on the SAME STREET (Taco Bell and Tacos del Mar) that anyone in their right mind would think they could successfully open ANOTHER fast-food Mexican restaurant at this location.  Time will tell.

Overall, no big complaints.  Food was decent.  Prices and quantities were as-expected for any other fast-food chain.  Service was prompt and friendly.  Nothing about my experience here jumped out at being any better or worse than Taco Bell (next door) or Tacos del Mar (just down the street).

I will give them two thumbs up for having COKE products though.  Most places in Kitsap are under a Pepsi-Starbucks strangle-hold.

Pips Bagels is OK.  Good bagels.  Nice sandwiches made on the bagels.  Prices are reasonable.  

Service is lackluster / lacks enthusiasm, and not particularly attentive to what you order.  For example, on our most recent visit, I asked for swiss cheese and they put cheddar on my sandwich, and my wife asked for spinach and they put lettuce on hers.  As long as you're flexible and willing to eat whatever they give you, then that's fine.  If you're particular about what you eat, then you might want to watch while they make your sandwich to make sure they get it right.

They have a mini espresso bar there for some good coffee.  Otherwise, the drink selection is pretty lacking.  My opinion is biased there though because I'm a Coke addict, and like every other eating establishment on the Kitsap peninsula they have Pepsi.  Blech.  

In short - I don't object when my family wants to go to "the bagel place," because the food is good and I'm not picky about what they put on my sandwich.  I just don't go out of my way or make any special effort to go there.

My family and I like this place A LOT.  My family actually came here once without me and liked it so much they brought me back, and it became an instant favorite.  Excellent food, friendly and prompt service, nice atmosphere, and reasonable prices for the quantity of food you receive.  

My kids love the Stella sub - a hot sub with pepperoni and melted cheese I think.  It was tough for me to decide because so many things on the menu sounded good.  I had a Mediterranean Caesar Salad and it was excellent.  

I can't wait to go back to Stella's.  It's a new favorite for our family.

Well, today was my first day at this YMCA, so I have not witnessed the crowding cited by Sam S., but I agree with Troy K. that this place is awesome.  I'm in the Navy and move around every 2-3 years, and we've only done two tours in the same location (DC) - all the rest have ping-ponged us back and forth from one duty station to the next.  In all the places we've been, this is the nicest, newest, most high-tech gym I've been to.  

Yes, I could go on base and use the base gym for free.  However, they offer excellent military discounts here (waived the sign-up fee and reduced the monthly fee), and I opted to pay to go to the YMCA instead of the base gym because:
1.  My kids can come here.  They have activities for kids and kids 8 years and older do not have to be attended - they can hang out in the kid areas or go swim in the pool watched over by the lifeguards, etc.  Plus, my wife can bring the kids here when I'm out at sea.
2.  They offer a lot of classes, including kids swimming lessons, that are all included in the price of membership (karate, pilates, all sorts of workouts).  It cost about the same as we were paying for swimming lessons back in Virginia, but it also got full access for my wife and I to use their gym.
3.  There's a nice indoor track for running or walking when it's raining and miserable outside.
4.  The indoor pool is really nice with both swimming lanes on one side and a more recreational area on the other side with a lazy river (like at water amusement parks) and small waterslide.
5.  It's closer to my house.
6.  There are a LOT more cardio machines available for use here, and they're fancy high-tech machines that you can watch TV on.  

We went just after lunch today and had a tour, and decided to sign up.  We went back a little later this afternoon and my wife and kids used the pool while I used the gym.  It was far from crowded, but it was also late on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, so a lot of people are probably traveling.  When they gave us the tour, they pointed out some posted graphs of peak usage times.  There are definitely two peak times at 9 a.m. on weekdays (after all the parents drop their kids at school) and then again at 5 p.m. every day.  I'll be interested to see if my opinion remains the same after I've seen it on a non-holiday weekend.

I didn't try this place for a few months after moving to the area because the reviews seemed "meh" / lukewarm.  My family dragged me here one day, and we had a very nice dinner.  The food was delicious, the service was decent (average to above-average) and the atmosphere was nice (nicer than I expected given the cheesy name of the restaurant).  My main complaint / driver for only 3 stars is the price.  I'm going to chime in with some other yelpers here and say this place is way overpriced.

In short:  Great food, good service, high prices.